Round four of the Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul series was held alongside the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, July 26-27, with Warhorse Ducati/American Racing’s Alessandro Di Mario and Hank Vossberg (Tytlers Cycle Racing) taking the two race wins on offer.
Di Mario claimed the opening race by leading only the final lap. Just five-hundredths of a second separated him from Vossberg after 10 laps that saw seven riders finish within one second.
Polesitter Bodie Paige (CTR/D&D Cycles) lacked top-end speed, settling for third but still only 0.250 of a second from the win. Sam Drane (Yamaha bLU cRU Estenson Racing), the sole rider to tackle a wet Q2, finished fourth, 0.346 of a second back.
“The chatter was insane,” Di Mario said. “As soon as I started pushing a little bit, my outside foot was slipping out, and I was doing everything I could, and it was chattering a lot. I knew I didn’t have the pace to be up there. In the first part of the track, they were a little faster, so I didn’t care if I got passed because I knew the straightaway was right after, and it’s downhill, so it helped. After I figured out I didn’t have the pace, I just figured I had to be smart about it, and I knew I wanted to make a pass on the last lap, and it just worked out perfectly. When Hank passed me, I knew the group was pretty big, so I just tried to calm down and take it easy, and I knew it was going to come down to the last lap, and no lap before that mattered. When I was third, I knew that I could draft them, so I decided to make the move on the last lap.”
“We just had a little bit of difficulty with our gearing,” Paige said. “On the first lap, I came down the straight and was hitting the rev-limiter right before the speed trap, so that definitely didn’t help with my race. Other than that, it was good.”
Ella Dreher (MP13 Racing), Carson King (Royalty Racing) and Kody Kopp (Team Roberts) completed the top seven, all within a second, with Kopp setting the fastest lap at 1:37.038. Nathan Bettencourt (Bettencourt Racing) was eighth, a little over a second behind, with Solly Mervis (Ice Barn Racing) and Landen Smith (D&D Certified Racing) rounding out the top 10.
Race two ended under a red flag, prompting confusion over the winner. MotoAmerica awarded victory to Vossberg, who was deemed to be 0.723 of a second ahead at the last official timing loop. Paige was relegated to second after a fierce battle that left the pair more than 10 seconds ahead of the next group.
“It’s not the way I want to win, but the race was awesome,” Vossberg said after race two. “I just wanted to push it from the beginning. I knew the track was a little sketchy, but it was dry enough to push the pace. I didn’t really know what our gap was back to the rest of the group until Bodie passed me. I saw plus eight on the pit board. So, I knew I could kind of sit behind Bodie and plan out an attack for the last lap. I just kind of sit in the draft, not wanting to push it and risk a mistake. I was able to sit in the draft and pass him on the last lap. It sucks with the red flag and everything coming out. But it was a great way to win.”
“We were definitely moving along better than we were yesterday,” Paige said. “The track was difficult with the mixed conditions, but me and Hank were definitely comfortable right from the start, and we managed to create a little gap, which I’m thankful for, so it wasn’t so chaotic. The last lap was just unfortunate, but that’s racing, and that’s the rules. It sucks, and it will hurt for a little bit.”
Initially, Kopp secured third, but a post-race disqualification for an illegal frame handed the podium to Di Mario. King and Drane followed closely, with Bettencourt, Smith, Derek Sanchez, Mervis and Ian Fraley completing the top 10.
Di Mario leads the championship with 168 points, followed by Drane on 130, Paige (122), and Vossberg (108). CN
2025 MotoAmerica Talent Cup Round 4 Results
Race 1 (Top 5)
- Alessandro Di Mario
- Hank Vossberg
- Bodie Paige
- Sam Drane
- Ella Dreher
Race 2 (Top 5)
- Hank Vossberg
- Bodie Paige
- Alessandro Di Mario
- Carson King
- Sam Drane
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